My Anecdotal Life

More than once, friends of Carl Reiner said, “You ought to write those things down.” And at the age of eighty, Carl finally did. In this funny and engaging memoir, Reiner recounts his show business life in short comic takes. After answering an ad for free acting classes, he forsook a budding vocation as a machinist for an acting career. Reiner recalls the highlights of the succeeding decades: his first sweaty audition—impersonating a dog impersonating movie stars; his forays into the theater; his work on Your Show of Shows and The Dick Van Dyke Show during TV's golden days; and his long friendship and collaboration with Mel Brooks, which gave birth to the Two Thousand Year Old Man. Ann Bancroft, Johnny Carson, Sid Caesar, Cary Grant, Jean Renoir, Mickey Rooney, Dinah Shore, Mary Tyler Moore–the list goes on and on–also appear in what Reiner calls the “literary variety show” that captures the highs and lows of his extraordinary life. Through it all, Reiner displays the wit and warmth that made him one of the most beloved figures in the entertainment business. Read by Reiner himself, this charming memoir will delight anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes look at five decades of Hollywood and television history.